Ivory Starlights and Changing Winds
by TouyaLuvr902
Summary: When Kag broke up wInu and moved to Osaka, he never thought she'd show up claimin her 6 yr old brat Shippo was his. Kags still hurt over Inu, loses her job and has to move back to Tokyo. Can Kouga heal her aching heart and take care of her and her child?
1. Reunions

Readers Guide:

words in italics - flashbacks

words in "" - dialogue

words in 'italics' - thoughts

She was extremely excited. She was finally returning home and the plane ride seemed to be going ridiculously slow. It had now been over six years since she'd seen Inuyasha and all of her other friends that she had grown up with. It hadn't taken her long to learn that a telephone really can't replace having the people you love right in front of you. After being away from them for such a long period of time, she now longed to see them again, even more to be held in Inuyasha's arms once more. Even if she knew it could be no more than a friendly hug, she'd take whatever she could get. Although she was a bit scared to face him once again, she knew that she would have to do it eventually. The way that she looked at it was, there was no point in delaying it anymore than was necessary. She let out an exasperated sigh at just the thought of the golden eyed, silver haired half demon she admired and loved so deeply.

They had known each other since they were in kindergarten and during the years before she left for Osaka, they had become quite fond of each other in an even more intimate way. She could still remember the breezy autumn night and the full moon's light that covered over their forms as Inuyasha had asked her to be his girlfriend, giving her a beautiful 4K white gold ring with a small ruby surrounded by two smaller diamonds adorning it. Now, she gazed upon the ring with a distant smile on her countenance as she was reminded of the first, tender kiss they shared that night under the moonlight. Inuyasha was and had always been a fiery one, with a short fuse, and perhaps, if possible, an even hotter temper. It took so little to set him off that Kagome often found herself weighing her words when relaying to him stories of say, trips to the mall or clubs or even the movies with Sango, where they may have been hit on by other men. Knowing Inuyasha as she did, had she given him the whole story with even little to no detail, the hanyou she loved so much would have doubtless sought out the poor soul and ripped his esophagus right out of his throat.

She smiled lightly though at the thought of her silver haired protector who seemed to think that she couldn't handle herself if the situation presented itself. She had, on more than one occasion, been left to fend for herself and had in the process, developed her own line of rejected males. At first, she'd hoped that if Inuyasha saw that she would not betray him or that she could take care of herself, he would not fly off the handle every time some guy approached her. However, it only made him even more jealous, as if he felt he had to put every last one of them in the hospital just for glancing her way, whether intentionally or otherwise. But even though he had his quirks, Kagome had loved him more than anything and regardless of what the rest of the world saw as a fault, she relished in the fact that he was different from most others - that he was a hanyou. She had never judged him, and for that, he had thanked her on more than one occasion in often sorrowfully joyous outpours of emotion. She tried to imagine how he would look now; six years later, wondering if he had changed as much as she had, although she doubted it. They were both twenty six now, and she imagined that though he may have changed physically, he was probably still the immature Inuyasha she knew and loved.

She sighed before turning to her left and looking to the small child who slept in the seat next to hers. She smiled lovingly as he shifted in his seat to get more comfortable against her shoulder. Lifting her hand to his forehead, she brushed his light brown hair, matching neither of his parents' from in front of his eyes. She leaned her head back onto the head rest and closed her eyes before she continued to think of her head-strong ex-boyfriend.

Kagome had long ago resigned herself to the fact that her golden eyed lover was jealous and stubborn, and he would always be that way no matter what anyone said or no matter how badly she wished to change him. She recalled with a heavy heart the last fight they had had - it was over this very matter….

_Kagome had just entered the large mansion in which Inuyasha resigned with his mother and half older brother, Sesshomaru when she saw the ends of a long silvery mane round a corner. She ran towards the owner, wrapping her arms tightly around him and resting her cheek on his back._

"_Hey, you. Are ya ready to get going?" They were supposed to be going to Ayumi's house for a party that night and since they were going to ride together, she had come to meet him there._

"_Pardon, Kagome." Her eyes flew open, her thoughts being cut off as she was greeted with a disturbing revelation at hearing the male's smooth voice. "But I do not seem to remember having plans to go out with you tonight," the silky voice stated bluntly. She swallowed hard as she recognized the owner of the voice not to be that of her hanyou. Pulling away slowly, she looked up to meet Sesshomaru's gaze as he turned to her, stoic and cold as ever._

_A light blush crept across her cheeks under his intense stare. She put her head down, suddenly becoming very interested in the ring that graced her finger. "S-Sorry, Sesshomaru… I - I thought that you were… Inuyasha…" her voice trailed._

"_You need not make excuses, Kagome. This Sesshomaru knows how irresistible he is to the female species, and I expected that in due time, you too would succumb to your natural womanly desire and would leave the half breed to come to me," he finished confidently. Her brows furrowed into a confused frown as she gazed back up at him and an amused smile graced her lips at the same time. Sesshomaru had always been known to have his pick of women wherever he went, but Kagome had never seen him as anything more than an older brother and even at times, a nuisance._

"_Excuse me?…" He smirked, a gesture that was reserved for a blessed few. Before either of them could say anything more, another voice rang through the air and pierced the silence._

"_Sesshomaru, you jerk!! What are you doing with my Kagome?!!" Kagome gaped at him, turning to him in disbelief._

"_**Your** Kagome? What am I, just some possession to you now?!" she spat back at the enraged hanyou with just as much anger flared in her eyes at being referred to as an object. He turned his attention and enraged glare to her._

"_Oh, like you can act all high and mighty! What were you doing here with him anyway?! Don't think that I didn't notice that little display of affection you showed towards that idiot just now!" Bringing her hands to her hips, she stood before the inu in defiance._

"_Oh, please! Of course you notice that little mistake, but not the explanation! If you were listening, you would've heard that I said I thought he was you! It's kinda hard to tell who's hair belongs to who if you hadn't noticed, ya jerk! And if you used even a little of the half of a brain you've got, you'd also know that I would never intentionally do anything to betray you, or your trust!" Sesshomaru simply watched the pair in amusement, crossing his arms and nonchalantly leaning up against the wall behind him with a grin of satisfaction plastered across his beautiful features._

_Inuyasha growled and he felt his blood boil at the thought of his Kagome in his brother's arms, cringing inwardly at the very insinuation. "You little wench! How dare you speak to me like that! And how am I supposed to know that nothing was going on between you two?!" He raised a hand to her, about to backhand her for her insolence, but something stopped him as she cringed and closed her eyes tightly. He looked at her expression and was suddenly confused. Not at her, but at himself. Was he just about to hit Kagome? Was he actually going to strike her? Harm her? What the hell was he doing?! She felt the sting of tears welling up in her chocolate orbs and the pull in her stomach became stronger as she desperately fought them back._

_She brought her now sad eyes to meet his confused golden gaze that were transfixed on her but seemed to be elsewhere as the sorrow in her heart ate at her. He really **didn't** trust her. Was that it? Or did he just let his own insecurities cloud his judgment? She couldn't tell. Either answer made her heart ache for him, and yet hate him for it at the same time. "Inuyasha… Do you truly believe that I would betray you? And with your own brother, in your own house?… Do you have that little faith in me after all this time we've been together?…"_

"_Huh?" He felt some of his resolve and most all of his anger dissipate at the hurt in her tone and his tense muscles relaxed. His eyes turned almost tender as the woman he loved and respected so brought her fists to her eyes and broke down before him. And it was his fault. Knowing that it was truly his fault that she was in such distress broke his heart and made him want to comfort her. He hadn't meant it in that way, had he? What had he meant by it? Not even he knew the reason. "Kagome, I -…" He reached out to comfort the sobbing woman but she stiffened and turned away from him, making the guilt in his heart deepen even further._

"_It's alright, Inuyasha…" She wiped her eyes with one final sweep over her eyes before smiling at him with fake optimism obvious in her expression, her eyes still a bit shaky, as was her voice when she spoke. "I'll just go on ahead. I'll see you there, okay?" Hearing the despair in her voice once again left him at a loss for words, which was extremely rare for the hot tempered hanyou._

_She turned heal and left the house with a weary heart. Later on that night, after conferring with Sango, Eri and Ayumi, they had decided that Inuyasha's jealousy and temper combined was too dangerous for Kagome to be the brunt of any longer. She had argued and fought them about it, but in the end she knew that it was true. He almost hit her, and who knew if he would stop the next time? Sighing, she stood from the bed that the four of them had rested on, followed by her friends and emerged from the room and into the party._

That had really been the last time she had a conversation with Inuyasha. Not long after that, she left Tokyo to live in Osaka - her job had relocated and needed her to come along with. She had been reluctant at first, with having to leave her hometown, her friends and everything she knew. But in the end, she had accepted it as being a good change for her, though she'd never forget her childhood friends. Her and Sango spoke everyday on the phone. Occasionally, if Miroku was at her apartment, she would talk to him for a few minutes. Every once in a while, she would call Sesshomaru just to hear another familiar voice, but she only spoke to her other friends every once in a while and mostly communicated with them through emails. Her and Inuyasha had emailed each other occasionally over the 6 year period that she had been gone, and she longed to see him again; to hear his voice. She knew that they may not be able to salvage their relationship as boyfriend and girlfriend, but she still didn't want to lose him as a friend. He was, after all, the only person who knew her better than even Sango did.

Sango. She thought with a smile on her face the last phone conversation she had with her most loved girl friend before she left her home in Osaka…

"_So everyone's doing okay, then?"_

_Oh, yea. Everyone's fine, Kagome. Don't worry about anyone._

"_And you haven't killed Miroku yet?… I won't have to help you clean up the mess when I get there, will I?…" she teased. Sango laughed._

_Ahaha. Not as far as I know, unless I'm a sleepwalker._

"_That's good. And how's Inuyasha? I haven't heard from him in a while; I'm starting to get really worried about him."_

_…_

"_Sango?… Are you there?"_

_Yea… Well… I - I think you should wait until you come and find out for yourself._

_She tilted her head a bit in confusion. "Sango? Is there something wrong?"_

_No! No, Kagome. Look, I just think that you should be the one to talk to Inuyasha yourself._

"_Alright… If you say so. That might be for the best in the long run, huh?…"_

_Yea, probably._

"_He's not having problems with Sesshomaru again, is he? Those two always find something to fight over," she mused, giggling a bit and rolling her eyes at the thought of the two half brothers yelling at each other for no real reason in particular._

_Sango laughed as well. Well, you know, Kagome. Last time, it was over you._

"_Oh, come on! It was over me! It was… just a misunderstanding!"_

_Well, you know even without you there, one of them is always picking a fight with the other. She laughed at the truth in her friends words._

"_Well, anyway! Let's try not to think about that! I have to go now, babe, but I'll see you in… 2 weeks?"_

_Yup! Can't wait! Love ya!_

Reality set in as she was brought back to the present and she realized how fast those 2 weeks had flown by. Sango was her best friend and her heart jumped knowing that she was soon about to see her once again. Kagome had missed her deeply; she had made friends in Osaka but none nearly as good as Sango. The so called friends she had there she knew would have betrayed her in a minute if given the opportunity, but she knew that she could trust Sango with her life.

She wondered how Sango was getting along with her lecherous boyfriend of the past 8 years as well. Kagome hadn't really liked him all that much when Sango had first introduced her to him. He openly flirted with her and any other pretty girl that just happened to pass their way, even going as far as to ask them to 'bear his children'. And right in front of Sango no less! She would quickly put him in his place, but still, just the fact that he showed such disrespect for Sango had been extremely upsetting to Kagome. But eventually, after years of having to deal with the lecher, she had grown to love him just as deeply and knew that, no matter what he showed in his actions, he would never betray Sango, maybe even for fear of knowing what _she_ would do to him if he ever did.

Her body was becoming even more anxious as the plane landed and slowly came to a bumpy halt. She felt her legs begin to bounce beneath her hands that rested atop her purse in her lap as she could no longer contain her excitement in anticipation on seeing her most beloved friends who were like family to her. She gently shook the young boy to wake him and told him to get ready to leave as the plane came to a full stop. When the "fasten seatbelt" light was still lit and no one moved to leave, she lifted her eyes over her seat to try and see what was holding them up while her lips moved and she whispered "come on! come on!" silently to herself.

A loud ding erupted through the cabin, signaling that it was now safe to remove their seatbelts. Quickly, she unclipped her own along with the boys and they both stood, ignoring the "thank you" speech that sounded over the loudspeaker and they made their way towards the front of the plane to be first in line. Once they reached the front of the plane, she stood behind the boy, her hands on his shoulders in front of the door, anxiously waiting for it to pop open and lead into the small tunnel that would lead to her friends. The child was surprisingly silent as she waited impatiently with him for what seemed like hours before the little speech was over. A stewardess approached them and as the door finally opened, she bowed to Kagome.

"Thank you for flying with us, Ma'am."

Kagome smiled at her and nodded before grabbing his small hand and running out the door and through the tunnel. Did she say no running? She couldn't say; her mind was too focused on seeing her friends again. When he was a little slow going, she bent down and lifted him into her arms before continuing to run towards the end of the long tunnel, rounding the sharp corners when necessary. She came to the end of the tunnel and looked around the large terminal for any sign of her friends. She caught sight of a high, black ponytail and her face lit up.

"Sango!"

PLEASE READ MY AUTHOR'S NOTE! VERY IMPORTANT!!

AN: Hey all!! This is my first story in a long, long, LONG time lol This is also my first EVER Kouga/Kagome pairing, so be sure to let me know what you guys think as you move along. Before you get too into this story, I wanna warn all readers, that I do have a bad habit of not finishing my stories and I get terrible cases of writers block. Hopefully, I'll be alright with this story, for a while anyway. I made sure I got really far with it before I posted it, so you won't have to worry about my writers block for a while lol Anywayz. Enjoy!!


	2. Meet and Greet

-1"Sango!" The woman looked to her as she walked closer. She stood and smiled brightly when she saw her.

"Kagome!" Both woman hugged each other tightly as best they could with the boy blocking them as Miroku stood behind Sango with a smile on his face. "Oh, it's so good to see you, Kagome! We've missed you so much!"

They separated and smiled. "It's good to see you too, Sango!" she said as she felt tears welling up in her large chocolate eyes. Miroku stepped forward and hugged Kagome as well, exchanging more "it's good to see you's". Sango gestured to the small child that rested shyly in Kagome's arms.

"And this must be…" Kagome's smile brightened.

"Yes. This is Shippo," she said, turning the boy to face her two friends. "Say hi, Shippo."

He put his head down shyly and looked up at them through his bangs. "Hi…" he obeyed, quietly.

"My, what lovely green eyes you have, Shippo," Sango complimented. He blushed at her statement and looked down.

"Say 'Thank You' sweetheart."

"T-Thank you…"

Sango smiled sweetly and looked back to Kagome. "He's adorable, Kagome. How old is he now?"

Kagome smiled with pride. "Thanks. He's almost 6, he'll turn in just a few months."

"Does Inuyasha know?" Miroku interjected. She shook her head.

"No. I couldn't bring myself to tell him through an email, or even over the phone."

"You know he might be angry with you for missing out on his first few years," Sango said.

"I know… Though knowing how he is, I doubt it."

A comfortable silence fell over the small group before a thought hit her. "Hey guys, by the way, where's Inuyasha?" Both Miroku and Sango's expressions saddened and they couldn't seem to look her in the eye. Confused with their sudden change in mood, she tilted her head. "What's wrong? Is everything alright with him?"

"Yes, he's well…" Miroku started.

"Well, then where is he? Didn't he come with you guys to meet us here?" Sango shook her head and looked to the floor.

"No, he didn't. He said he had something else to do." Kagome's expression turned sad now as well.

"Oh… Well, I'm sure I'll see him around somewhere. I mean, I am going to be here for quite a few months, right?" They both nodded and as her smile brightened a bit, so did theirs. "So let's get going! I wanna see this new place you've got, Sango."

Sesshomaru walked past Inuyasha's room and noticed that his younger half brother was still there, lying in his bed with his arms crossed behind his head. "Inuyasha. Why do you remain here?"

Inuyasha turned his head and scoffed. "Heh! What's it to you?!"

"Because if my memory serves me, Kagome returns here to Tokyo today."

"Yeah? And what of it?"

"Will you not go to see her?"

Inuyasha sat up with a loud groan and glared at his older brother. "Why should I? The wench broke up with me and then moved to Osaka. Besides, why would I need her when I've got Kikyou?"

"You mean that whore?"

Inuyasha turned to him quickly, anger flared in his golden orbs. "Don't you dare talk about Kikyou like that!" Sesshomaru shook his head and turned to leave.

"Inuyasha, you are a fool. Why leave one so devoted and loyal for one who obviously is not inclined to do the same?"

"Shut up!! You don't know anything!"

"This Sesshomaru will never understand you, Inuyasha. How father could have spawned one so majestic as myself, and also one as idiotic as you is beyond me," he pondered to himself as he left Inuyasha alone in thought.

Stubborn as ever, the hanyou crossed his arms and huffed angrily. No matter how much he hated to admit it to himself, he knew his brother had been right. Kikyou may have physically looked like Kagome, but the two were far from alike. He had met Kikyou about 2 years earlier and they had gotten together not too long after. None of his friends approved of her, not even Bankotsu, or Juromaru, the latter of whom was famous for having his fair share of fast girls. Sango and Miroku had cut off most all contact with him, only speaking with him maybe once a week if even that. He had been saddened by the loss of his good friends, but he wasn't about to let his friends decide who he should and shouldn't date.

Thinking about it, he imagined that he had probably been drawn to Kikyou in the first place because of how much she resembled Kagome, the one whom he had cared for so much. But over the year and a half that he had been with her, he had grown to love Kikyou just as well. He knew that he definitely couldn't trust Kikyou as he had Kagome, but he didn't want to risk losing her in the same way that he did Kagome either.

Disgusted by his own thoughts, he decided to go for a walk in downtown Tokyo to take his mind off of it before he met Kikyou later that afternoon.

"Wow. This is a pretty nice place you've got here, Sango," Kagome said as they all walked into her friends apartment.

"Thanks. It's not much, but it's better than nothing and it's somewhere to live." Miroku entered the door behind the three, carrying Kagome's luggage.

"I completely agree." Shippo tugged on her hand and she looked down at his small face with a smile. "What is it sweetie?"

"Watch TV…." he whispered to her shyly.

"Sango, do you mind if Shippo watches TV?"

"No, of course not. The TV's in the living room right over there."

"Okay, thanks." She led Shippo into the said room as Miroku dropped her bags and closed the door behind him.

"Hey, Miroku, do you think she has any idea of what we have planned for her?" Sango asked her boyfriend, cupping a hand to his ear as she spoke.

"No, I don't believe she does. I'm thinking that maybe you should take her out for a while so that I can finish decorating and planning. If I'm correct, her mother and Ayumi are coming over as well, are they not?"

Sango nodded. "Yea. I think we should take Shippo as well. Kagome may want to introduce her mother to her grandson herself, you know?"

"I agree," Miroku nodded as Kagome reentered the room they were in.

"Okay, well, he'll be there for a while."

"Hey, Kagome let me show you the room the two of you will be staying in and help you unpack, alright?"

Kagome smiled brightly to her friend. "Sure, that sounds great!" She picked up Shippo's small luggage bag as Sango grabbed the handle to hers and rolled it past her and down the hallway. Kagome followed after her while telling her friend how she wanted to go and visit her mother and younger brother.

"I was thinking that maybe you wanted to walk around downtown before you tell everyone you're here, maybe even go by and see you're mom. You know everyone is going to start calling you and bothering you nonstop once you do," Sango suggested as she helped Kagome unpack hers and Shippo's bags into the drawers and closet of her spare room. Kagome laughed.

"You know, that might be a good idea. I purposely didn't tell her when we were coming and I know she's ecstatic about meeting her grandson. We should probably bring him, too." Sango was amazed that her friend just assisted her without even realizing it.

"That sounds good. Do you want to shower before hand or…"

Kagome smiled. "Yes, I could use a nice hot shower."

After the two women had finished unpacking, they emerged from the room to find Miroku sitting on the floor with Shippo watching TV and laughing. Seeing that the boy was still distracted and doing well without Kagome, Sango led her to the small linen closet in the hallway, pulling out 2 towels and washcloth for her friend. She showed her how to use the shower, and left her to herself.

Kagome turned on the water and let it run hot for a few minutes as she removed her clothes and placed them neatly on an empty shelf above the toilet. She stepped into the shower and let the warm streams of water caress her sore body. This was the first vacation she had had in a long time, from her job and her son. Although she loved the boy, she enjoyed having at least a few minutes to herself, which was a rare occurrence back in Osaka. It was hard for her to find a respectable and trustworthy babysitter where she lived and as Shippo grew, it seemed that he was becoming more and more like his father. Shippo wasn't completely unreasonable as he had been, but he was slowly gaining more and more of his characteristics.

After wetting her long, silky black hair, she applied soap to the washcloth and closely began to rub it over her body. She noticed that Sango had one of those aromatherapy shower heads and they were certainly doing their job; she felt her muscles becoming more and more relaxed as each drop of water attacked her sore limbs and the sweet scent of lavender filled her nose. She rinsed the soap off of her body before squeezing a small amount of Sango's shampoo into her palm and applying it to her hair.

She was relieved to have the small comfort of the warm shower to relax her. She hadn't realized how nervous she was about seeing Inuyasha again after all of these years. A part of her wanted to see him again, knowing that he had a right to know about his son, but the rest of her body ached at the thought of having to confront him again. She had no idea how he would react to seeing her again, let alone at knowing that she had kept Shippo from him for almost 7 years. She sighed before rinsing the shampoo out of hair and turning off the running water. _'I guess I knew that this day would someday come… There's no way that I could keep Shippo from him forever, no matter how much I wish to.'_

She stepped out of the shower and dried herself off before wrapping a towel about her body and the other around her wet hair. Walking out of the bathroom and into her and Shippo's given room, she ruffled through the dresser to find a bra and underwear. As she did, the door burst open, frightening her out of her thoughts to no end and in entered an excited Shippo. She let out a small sigh of relief at seeing the brown haired child and not her friends' perverted boyfriend.

"Mommy! Mommy! Auntie Sango said that we're gonna go see grandma!" he spoke excitedly. She was a bit surprised that he had lost his shyness and was now speaking freely, and her expression showed it. It usually took him a few days to get used to new people, but he had adjusted to her childhood friends well. Dismissing the thought, she smiled down at her young son.

"That's right, sweetie. Mommy just has to finish getting ready, okay? Now go and play with Uncle Miroku while mommy gets dressed." With one more happy nod, he was off again, back into the living room with her two friends. She just shook her head as she closed the door behind him and went back to the drawer to find her underwear.

Not 10 minutes later, Kagome emerged from the room wearing a pair of dark blue jeans and a shortened black jacket that showed her stomach and zippered up in the front and covered a white belly shirt. Her hair was up in a high ponytail, two small strands hanging down in front of either ear. She wore a silver chain with a 'K' dangling from it, a silver chained bracelet on one wrist and a silver watch on the other and she was putting on silver hoop earrings as she walked into the living room where her friends sat waiting for her.

Sango smiled when she noticed Kagome's choice of clothing. "I see we'll still be mistaken for sisters again even after all these years," she noted, laughing a bit. Kagome looked at her in confusion but smiled as well as she saw that Sango wore the same outfit, except Sango's jeans were a darker blue, her sleeveless shirt was black and she didn't wear a jacket.

"I guess so. Well, let's get going. It's getting rather late and I'd like to get Shippo to bed a bit earlier tonight."

"I don't wanna go to sleep early, mommy! I wanna play with Uncle Miroku and Auntie Sango!" Grabbing Sango's cat, he lifted the small animal into Kagome's view. "And Kirara, too!"

"We're going to spend time with Auntie Sango all afternoon, Shippo. And besides, the more sleep you get tonight, the more time you'll have to play with them tomorrow," Kagome tried to reason with the small child who simply pouted in response. Paying him no attention, Kagome turned her attention back to Sango. "You ready to go?" Sango nodded.

"Yup. Let's roll." Sango opened the door as Kagome took Shippo's hand in hers. Sango waited for Kagome and Shippo to exit before turning to Miroku and winking at him. He nodded to her before she slowly exited and closed the door behind her.


	3. Secret Plans?

The three of them made there way through the big city towards her mother's house. They stopped occasionally when Shippo saw something he liked or wanted and figuring that she didn't know when she would be able to make it back, Kagome let him get some things he wanted. When he wanted a toy, she got him a toy. When he wanted to go see the special fish pond they had inside the park they were in, they sat there for about a half hour while the young boy observed the fish, happily. When he wanted ice cream and some candy… well, he could pretty much get that anywhere, but he was being good, so she decide he could have some anyway.

She let out a heavy sigh as her and Sango made their way up the shrine stairs that led to her old home where her mother and younger brother Souta still lived. Shippo ran ahead of the two woman, excitedly skipping up the stairs. "Be careful, Shippo!" Kagome kept yelling to him as she watched him worriedly. "I swear, he's trying to give me a heart attack!" Sango giggled.

"And from the looks of it, he might succeed someday soon." Kagome sighed again.

"You have no idea…"

Sango tilted her head a bit as she looked at Kagome's stress-ridden face. "Are you alright, Kagome? What's the matter?"

Kagome crossed her arms and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I guess I'm just kind of a little nervous…"

"Nervous? What ever for?"

"Well, I thought I wouldn't have a hard time telling Inuyasha about Shippo… But now, I guess I'm a little scared that he won't accept him. Shippo's been asking about his father ever since he could talk, and it would just break his heart if Inuyasha denied him," Kagome explained as her eyes began to tear, relieved to finally get all of her feelings off of her chest.

Sango wrapped an arm around her best friends' shoulders for comfort. "Don't worry about him, Kagome. Inuyasha is an odd one, but he doesn't really strike me as the dead-beat father type. And even if he does, you and Shippo always have all of us. We're your friends, and we'll never abandon you two, Kagome; you know that," she reassured her.

Kagome nodded and sniffled before smiling weakly. "Yes, I know. And thank you; I really appreciate the support from you guys." Shippo had stopped near the top of the stairs and waited for the two women to catch up. Once they did, Kagome reached down and took his small hand in her own, leading him the rest of the way up the long stairway. Kagome knew that what Sango had said was true, but that didn't ease her mind that much. She still worried of Shippo's stability if he continued to grow without a father. Not that Inuyasha was the best role model, but he was still better than nothing. Kagome had tried to date a few guys when she moved to Osaka, but none of them were really all that great. And with most of them, once they found out that she was a single mother, they wanted nothing to do with her. Kagome knew she was on thin ice when it came to finding her little boy a father, and right now, Inuyasha was the best chance she had.

They approached the door and Kagome took in a deep breath before bringing her hand too the doorbell and pushing it. After a few seconds of shuffling behind the door, it opened quickly to reveal Souta. "Souta!"

He smiled brightly at seeing his older sister standing before him. "Kagome?!" After a quick hug, the two separated and Kagome kissed him lightly on the forehead. "Aw, come on, sis!"

Sango and Kagome laughed. "Give me a break, Souta. I haven't seen you in forever," she scolded.

"I know."

"And look how much you've grown! Oh, my God!…" She rubbed her hand through his hair and he pushed her away.

"Hey!… Go easy, will ya?! I'm not that little kid you left behind all those years ago, ya know?!" he scolded.

"Right, you're 17. You're all grown up, a man of the world now," she teased.

"Come on, don't patronize me, sis… So when did you get back? I feel so left out."

"Don't worry, Souta. I just got here a few hours ago so you haven't missed out on much. May we come in?" Souta stood aside.

"Oh, yea sure. Come on in." They walked in past him and Souta noticed the small boy clinging to his sisters' leg. "So I guess this little guy is Shippo, huh?" Kagome smiled and turned back to her brother as he closed the door.

"Yup, this is Shippo. Shippo, say hello to your Uncle Souta."

"Hi…" Shippo said shyly again. Kagome shook her head.

"Don't worry, he just acts shy. Once he gets used to you, you won't be able to get him to shut up."

"Haha. I'll be sure to remember that."

"So Souta, where's mom?"

"You know, you just missed her. She just left about 15 minutes ago to go shopping." Kagome snapped her fingers.

"Dang, I was really hoping that she'd be here. I wanted to introduce her to Shippo today…"

"Don't worry, Kagome. I'm sure you'll see her soon enough. But hey, I was actually about to get going. A friend of mine is having a party and if I don't leave now, I'm gonna be really late."

She gaped at him. "Souta! You mean to tell me that you would rather go to a party than spend time with your own sister who you haven't seen in almost 7 years?!" He shrugged and smiled weakly at her as he picked up his jacket.

"Sorry, Kagome. It's a really important party. Everyone who's anyone will be there," he explained as she crossed her arms.

"Now you sound like me…" He shrugged again.

"I learn from the best." He opened the door and walked outside. "Catch ya later. Lock up when you're done, okay? Love ya, sis."

Kagome sighed again as he closed the door behind him. "Well. That went well."

Sango gave her friend a weak smile. "Come on, don't be too hard on him. He's 17, you can't expect him to want to be around you all the time when he has girlfriends to make."

"I guess you're right. Well, since mom's not here, why don't we head back to your place. Unless you had somewhere else you wanted to go to first?…"

"Uh… You know, let me just make a quick phone call, okay?" she asked nervously, pulling her cell phone out of her pocket.

"Sure. I'll just be upstairs showing Shippo my old room. Let us know when you're done."

"Will do." She dialed the number to her apartment as Kagome headed up the stairs with Shippo.

Hello?

"Yea, it's me, Miroku. Is everything ready?"

Not yet. Where are you two?

"We're at Kagome's old house. I take it Mrs. Higurashi is there?"

Yes, she arrived here shortly after you left.

"Great. And Souta just left here. Knowing him, he'll be there in like 10 minutes tops. How much longer do you guys need?"

Don't worry, Sango. Everything will be ready by the time you two get back here, okay? Miroku assured her. She let out a sigh of relief.

"Alright, babe. We'll see you in a little bit," she finished before closing the phone. She smiled. Everything was going perfectly! All was going according to her plan. And the best part was that Kagome had no idea! She mentally noted that she needed to pat herself on the back for doing such a good job later.

After forcing the hysteric grin from her face, she walked over to the banister and placed her hand on it. "Kagome! You ready?!" she yelled up the staircase.

"Just a few more minutes, Sango!" Kagome yelled back down before turning her attention back to her son with a smile. "So do you like mommy's old room, honey?"

He nodded. "Who's that, mommy?" She followed his extended hand which pointed to a picture that rested on the desk by her window. Her eyes widened a bit as she realized that it was a picture of her and Inuyasha from when they had been together. Her muscles stiffened and her mind began to race. Should she dare show him the picture? He _is_ his father after all, and she was planning on introducing them during this trip anyway, wasn't she? It would be okay for her to tell him, wouldn't it?

With a heavy sigh, she walked to the picture and picked it up before sitting down on her bed. "Come here, Shippo," she said, patting the bed next to her so that he would come. He walked over and crawled onto the bed next to his mother and leaned on her shoulder to look at the picture. "Shippo… This is me a long time ago… with your daddy." She saw his large green eyes widen as he leaned in closer to the picture. After a few seconds, he reached stubby fingers out to touch the image of his father.

"He's my daddy?…" he asked in an almost frightened tone. Kagome nodded as she wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him a bit closer.

"Would you like to meet your daddy, sweetheart?" He turned his surprised gaze to her with excitement dancing in his eyes.

"Can I, mommy?!" She nodded.

"Hopefully, sweetie. We have to see if he's still mad at mommy or not," she explained, lifting him up and placing him on the floor before standing herself.

"What if he's still mad at you mommy?" She sighed again, something she noticed she was doing a lot lately.

"I don't know, Shippo. I really don't know… But come on. Your Auntie Sango is waiting for us downstairs and we have to get home so we can have some dinner. I'm starving, aren't you?" she asked, trying to make the mood a little happier.

He smiled at his mom's suddenly cheery mood and nodded. When he asked her if he could keep the picture, she was a bit hesitant but decided that there could really be no harm in it. So after giving her son the photo, they made there way down the stairs to where Sango stood waiting for them.

As they made there way back to Sango's apartment, Kagome decided to ask the question that was burning in the back of her brain. "Why is everyone tiptoeing around me whenever I ask about Inuyasha?" Sango stopped walking, her head down. Kagome stopped as well, turning to her friend in confusion. "Sango?…" No response. "Come on, Sango. You've never kept anything from me before. Please, tell me. What's going on with Inuyasha?"

Sango smiled weakly up at her friend. "Kagome, please. You know that I love you dearly, that you're like a sister to me. You are my very best friend and one of the only people that I trust. But please, _please_ don't force me to tell you something that I'm uncomfortable saying to you. You know I would never intentionally keep something from you unless it wasn't my place." Kagome's eyes were glazed with sadness as she listened to her friend.

She forced a smile on her face though. "Alright, Sango. I'm sorry. I won't ask you again, it was wrong of me to try to force you."

"Don't worry about it." She entwined her arm with Kagome's. "Let's just hurry and get back to my place, huh? Miroku's probably starving!"

"You mean he can't cook his own food?"

Sango shook her head as they continued on. "He absolutely refuses to. After he tasted my cooking, he says he'll only eat what I cook." Kagome giggled.

"Are you serious? He's such a player. What a line he fed you."

"I know, but it's still kind of sweet, if you think about it."

"Haha. Oh, Sango… You really fell hard, didn't you?"

"What?" Kagome just shook her head.

"Nothing. Never mind…" Sango shook her arm.

"No! Tell me!"

"It's nothing! Don't worry about it!" she laughed out.

"Kagome, you're absolutely horrible!"

"Haha. I know, but that's why you guys love me so much!"

They continued on their way. Kagome took Shippo's hand in her free one, telling him that it was getting too dark for him to run ahead by himself.

Ring Ring

Inuyasha hurriedly ran to his desk where he had placed his cell phone and answered it quickly.

"Kikyou?!"

…Not exactly. But it's good to know that you can tell us apart. Inuyasha's face contorted as he let out a small growl.

"Miroku. What the heck do you want?"

Calm down, Inuyasha. I called to remind you of Kagome's return today, and--

"Yea, yea, yea, I know already! I heard all about it from my idiot brother! Why won't you people get off my back?!"

Sigh Inuyasha. I simply wished to know if you intended on coming over to Sango's to see her tonight.

Inuyasha huffed. "Huh! And why exactly would I want to do that?" Miroku felt anger rise up in him.

Maybe because you're supposed to be her friend? Because you haven't seen her in 6 years? I know that Kikyou is more than likely your main priority right now, but if it matters to you at all, Kagome _has_ been asking about you. She wishes to see you. That's all I have to say. Goodbye, Inuyasha.

Click

Inuyasha was again left to his own thoughts. He brought his gaze to the floor with a cute, innocent look as he mulled over in his mind what he was going to do. He did wish to see Kagome, but he was torn because he knew that Kikyou would never approve, even if he was just going to say hi. Kikyou was crazy jealous of Kagome and had threatened to leave him if he talked to her. She was the best thing that had happened to him since Kagome, and he wasn't about to mess it up.

He sighed. _'Sorry, Kagome. But I just can't risk losing her like I lost you. I just don't think I could handle that…'_


	4. Parties and Surprises

Kagome and Sango exited the elevator, Kagome holding a sleeping Shippo in her arms. "I still can't believe he actually fell asleep!…" They both giggled.

"I guess all the excitement wore the poor little guy out. Or it could be jetlag."

"That's true I guess. I feel bad that I have to wake him up so that he can eat…"

Sango unlocked the door to her apartment, where it was pitch dark. Kagome walked in and Sango flipped on the light switch.

"SURPRISE!!"

Kagome jumped as her friends seemed to jump out of nowhere with bright, cheerful smiles on all of their faces. "Oh, my God…" She brought a hand to her mouth as for once, tears of joy welled up in her eyes. Her mother was the first to approach and embrace her.

"How are you, sweetheart?" her mother asked into her hair.

She sniffled before answering, "I'm fine, mom." She turned to Sango, who was now in Miroku's loving embrace and they smiled back at her. "sniff You guys are evil."

Everyone laughed at her before approaching her as well. "So this is Shippo?" her mom asked tentatively.

"Yes, this is Shippo. He fell asleep. Wanna hold him, mom?"

She nodded as Kagome slowly and carefully handed her son to his grandmother. Releasing Kagome, he turned to his grandmother and latched onto her neck. She smiled as she rocked the toddler and walked towards the room that had been given to her daughter. "He needs to eat, mom!" she yelled quietly after her mom as she was bombarded by hugs and questions from her friends.

"You all are so evil. How could you guys plan this party without even hinting anything to me? I was completely shocked, even though I have no idea why." Ayumi and Sango laughed.

"Well, that's the reason why it's called a surprise party," Sango explained as Kagome took a sip of her drink.

"Yea, but I mean come on, you guys know I hate it when you do things like this."

Ayumi wrapped an arm around Kagome's shoulders. "Are you trying to tell me that you aren't having a good time and that you aren't happy to see everyone?"

"I didn't say that. I just hate being surprised like that. You know I like to be prepared for everything."

"Ha. You don't have to remind me. I think I got it from when you would always bug us and Hojo for all the work you missed when you stayed home sick from school," Ayumi recalled.

Kagome laughed. "Maybe that's why I don't like being surprised; because of all of those tests I was surprised with when I came back."

"That reminds me, Kagome. Where would you disappear to for all those times?" Kagome shook her head, waving her hand in front of her friend.

"Trust me, you don't want to know. And I don't want to talk about it, ha ha. I'm trying to forget that part of my life," she admitted.

"Wait. Wasn't that around the same time you met Inuyasha and the others?…"

"Ayumi, please. I'm serious." Ayumi quickly rid herself of her curiosity as she heard the sadness in her friend's voice and saw the hurt glistening in her eyes.

"Sorry, Kagome…" she put her head down. Realizing that she may have been a bit harsh in her tone, Kagome gave her friend a smile.

"Don't worry about it. It's okay. Come on, let's enjoy this party you guys planned out so meticulously for me, right?" she tried to lighten to mood, wrapping an arm around Ayumi's shoulders. Both women smiled at her change of mood.

"Right," they both answered in unison.

Kagome opened her eyes and felt an immediate throbbing pain in her head, forcing her to instinctively bring a hand to her forehead and close her eyes once again. She was a little disoriented at first, but after a few seconds, she got her bearings and remembered that she was in Sango's apartment. She turned to her right to look at the clock on the nightstand beside her. It read 9:18 AM. Sighing, she turned to the ceiling again and closed her eyes, not really wanting to get out of bed.

After lying there for a few more minutes, she decided that she should get up and get dressed. She turned to wake Shippo and when she didn't find him laying next to her, she quickly sat up, a frightened look on her face. "Shippo?!…" she asked into the room quietly but frantically, thinking that maybe the small boy had simply gotten out of bed and was playing on the floor. Although her hasty actions had caused her formally diminishing headache to return with a vengeance, when she got no response, she stood to her best and wobbled towards the door. Opening the door quickly, she leaned onto the doorpost for support as her vision became more blurry. "Sango?!… Sango?!…" she all but yelled for her best friend.

Sango came from the kitchen and rounding the corner, saw her friend plastered to the doorframe. "Kagome, what's wrong?" she asked, giving her a worried look as she approached her.

"Where's Shippo?! I can't find Shippo!" she asked, grabbing onto Sango's shoulders.

"Your mom took him home with her last night, remember? When the party started getting too loud, she decided to leave early and take him with her," she explained. Kagome let out a relieved sigh at knowing that her child was somewhere safe although not with her. "Are you alright, Kagome? You don't look so good…" Sango continued, bringing her attention to the woman latched to her. Kagome nodded.

"Yea, I'm fine. I just… have a little headache and it's making me a bit dizzy. That's all," she assured Sango. "Could you make me some coffee? I'm going to go take a shower."

"Sure. Do you need some help?" Kagome shook her head as she turned away from Sango and started to make her way towards the door.

"No, I'll be alright. Thank you." She slowly made her way towards the bathroom. When Sango was sure that Kagome was okay, and turned and went into the kitchen to make a larger pot of coffee.

"So what do you have planned for today?" Sango asked as Kagome popped two Advils into her mouth and drank some water behind them, swallowing hard.

"Well, given this massive headache goes away," she started, placing the small glass in the sink and bringing her hand to her head, rubbing it gently. "God, who's idea was it to bring alcohol here last night anyway?!…" Sango smiled.

"Just guess…"

She scoffed. "Gah! I'm gonna kill Miroku!… Anyway, I was thinking of going and picking up Shippo and taking him for a walk downtown, just the two of us, you know?" Sango nodded as Kagome joined her at the small table in the kitchen.

"Yea, that sounds like a good idea. Anywhere special?…"

Kagome gave her a menacing smile. "Well, if that's your subtle way of asking if I'm going to take Shippo to meet Inuyasha…" they both laughed a bit. "Then, no. I'm not sure I'm quite ready to see him just yet, especially since he didn't even have the decency to show last night…"

"I can understand that. Take your time, but remember the longer you wait, the harder it's going to be. Not just for you, but for Shippo as well."

"Look at the puppies, mommy!!" Shippo squealed excitedly as he and his mother passed a pet store on the street they were walking on. Releasing her hand, he left her for favor of pressing his nose and fingers against the glass to get as close a look as possible at the fuzzy creatures running around inside. A few seconds after letting out a joyous laugh, he turned his gaze up to her. "Can I have one, mommy?!"

She bent down until she was face to face with the toddler. "No, honey. You know that mommy can't afford to get you a puppy right now. Maybe in a few years, okay?" His face turned dishearten as he turned back to the puppies and it pulled at her. She smiled weakly. "Hey. Do you want to go see a movie?" He turned back to her with a huge smile.

"Yea!"

"Okay, let's go!" She grabbed his hand again as she stood and was about to walk away when she ran into a firm chest. "Oh! I'm sorry!"

"Kagome?…" the person asked slowly. Her eyes widened as she immediately recognized the voice.

'Oh, God… Please don't let it be…' She brought her eyes up and confirmed the owner of the voice to be the one person who she was hoping not to run into just yet. "Hey, Inuyasha. H - How are you?"

"I'm - I'm fine." He smiled nervously as he took in her form. She had grown. A lot. Kagome had always had a nice body, but she had filled out even more since the last time he saw her. He scanned over her entire body with his eyes, first observing her shapely legs. Then moving up to her hips, noticing that they had widened considerably, but were still small enough to fit her petite form. His eyes then wandered up to her breasts. He saw that they were slightly more perky than what he remembered, and he grinned to himself at the sight. His eyes gazed up to her cherry lips and then to her chocolate eyes that showed not only surprise but another emotion that he couldn't quite read.

"Um… Are you alright, Inuyasha?"

"Huh? Yea, why wouldn't I be?"

"Well… Cause you were staring at me just now." He blinked a few times before smiling nervously at her.

"S - sorry about that, Kagome." He smoothed his bangs back on his forehead before running his hand thru his long silvery locks, suddenly a bit self conscious about his looks. Had he changed as much as she had? "S - so what ha-have you been up to? I - it's been forever."

Shippo innocently turned his gaze to his mother. "Who's that man?" Inuyasha noticed him and gave a quick glance to him before looking to Kagome.

"Hey. Who's the kid?" he inquired, sending a short nod his way.

Kagome felt her hand tighten around Shippo's tiny one as she realized that the very thing she feared having to do was now inevitable. The clenching in her chest became more and more evident when she heard Shippo's tiny voice echo in her mind. Swallowing her fear, she addressed Inuyasha first.

"Inuyasha…" She urged Shippo a little closer to him so that he was between the pair. "This is… your son."

In that second, Kagome saw an array of emotions flash in Inuyasha's golden eyes before his eyebrows arched downward into an almost angry expression. "What…?!"

Feeling a bit more confident, she stood up straight. "His name is Shippo and he's 5 years old." Inuyasha was barely paying attention, he was too busy inspecting this boy, his so-called 'son.' Kagome looked down to a confused Shippo with a light smile. "Shippo. This is your daddy."

The reaction she got from the 5 year old wasn't the one she had expected. Instead of being excited, running to him and latching onto him as she had always imagined the child would do, he simply gained the same, confused and accusing expression as his father and both pairs of eyes were transfixed on the other. Kagome could have almost found the sight of father and son amusing if the reasons behind the intense stares were unknown.

Breaking the stare, Inuyasha stood up straight and pointed an accusing finger at Shippo, giving Kagome an angry glare. "What are you tryina pull?! You tryina pass someone else's brat off as mine?!"

Kagome's brows furrowed. "What are you saying, Inuyasha?! Shippo's your son!" He turned his nose up from her and crossed his arms.

"Huh! Whatever! How do you expect me to believe that when the kid looks nothing like me?!"

Anger boiled up inside her now. "He doesn't look anything like me either, but that doesn't mean that he's not my son!" Glancing down to Shippo, she could see in his eyes that all he imagined his father to be was being shattered with each word they spoke.

"Then you show me proof that he's mine! How do I know that the kid isn't some other dudes?!"

"Inuyasha, I was pregnant when I left here!" she blurted out quickly, the tears in her eyes beginning to blur her vision.

"Oh, yea right! How convenient!"

"Inuyasha…"

As an eerie silence fell over the two, a light rain began to fall, the heavy pitter-patter of each drop as it hit the ground only intensifying their already heightened emotions. As he watched her pain, he felt his rage to melt away again, but he wouldn't allow her to make him feel guilty this time. So he made himself feel less guilty in the only way he knew how. "You were always such a slut, Kagome! Actin' all innocent like you never slept around on me and like you were so loyal! But don't think I don't know the truth about what you were really doin behind my back!"

Before Inuyasha could cause her anymore pain, a man with a long, black ponytail stepped between the two. "Hey! What's going on here?!"

"Mind your own business, Kouga! This has nothing to do with you!" Kagome knelt down and held Shippo in her arms close to her body with her hands covering his small ears as she listened to the conversation that transpired between the men.

"You don't honestly think I'm just gonna stand here and let you insult this beautiful woman for no reason, do ya mutt-face?" Inuyasha growled.

"I told you, this has nothing to do with you! Now get outta my way!" he snarled, putting a hand on this Kouga man's shoulder and trying to push him out of the way. The man grabbed Inuyasha's wrist and pulled his hand from his shoulder before punching him square in the face. Stumbling backwards, Inuyasha brought a hand to the offended cheek and turned an angry glare to Kouga before growling. He looked down into Kagome's sad/frightened eyes and sighed, releasing some of his anger. "This isn't over, Kagome. We'll finish talking later." Bringing his eyes up to meet Kouga's once more, he let out one more menacing growl. "And you're gonna get yours, you mangy wolf!" Kouga simply smirked as if to say, 'bring it on; any place, anytime.' But Inuyasha just scoffed and went on his way.

Kouga then turned his attention to Kagome and Shippo, kneeling down in front of the frightened pair. "Are you alright?" he asked, placing a tender hand on her shoulder.

She forced a weak smile to form on her lips as her shaky eyes sweetened. "Yes. I'm fine," was all she could muster.

"My apartment's right around the corner. Please come inside before you two catch your death," he offered.


	5. Oops

Kagome sat on the couch in Kouga's apartment wrapped in a blanket, brushing her sleeping son's hair with her fingertips. Bringing her arm back beneath the warm blanket, she closed her eyes and sighed.

"Here." Opening her eyes, she found a steaming mug being held in front of her face. Looking up, she saw Kouga smiling down at her. "Hot chocolate. My specialty."

Smiling back, she took the mug from his hand. "Thank you." She brought the mug to her lap and looked at her reflection in the brown liquid as he sat down next to her.

"So he really is Inuyasha's kid, huh?"

She nodded. "He always claimed that I cheated on him, even though he knew that I never did, and that I never would. My job moved to Osaka about 6 years ago and I was transferred there as well. I was in my first trimester when I left; I just never told him. I couldn't bring myself to. How could I have?" She felt even more tears welling up in her eyes. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, her shoulders hunching a bit as her head bent down even further. "I'm so stupid!" His eyes widened - he was surprised at her sudden change in mood. "I was such a fool to ever believe that Inuyasha would ever accept him! That he would ever think of anyone but himself!" she cried.

So that's what the mutt had been blabbering on about before he stepped in. He couldn't understand it. Why was she blaming herself? Did she really think that it was her fault? As the young mother began to sob, her situation repeated itself over and over in his mind, and each time it did, he felt more and more of his heart go out to her. It was then that he made a decision.

Placing his mug on the table in front of him, he turned to Kagome and took one of her hands from around the mug, making her turn a surprised glance to him. He enclosed her hand within both of his. "Kagome, don't even think about that stupid mutt. He isn't worth your tears. He couldn't appreciate you and now, he won't even acknowledge his own son. He's not the kinda guy you want to help you raise Shippo, so Kagome. I'm gonna make you my woman."

"Huh?!" Her cheeks reddened at his bold statement, her eyebrows furrowing the slightest bit. "Kouga, what are you saying?"

"Shippo needs a good male influence in his life, not someone like dog breath and all of his trashy friends. So you're gonna be my woman."

"Excuse me?…" She pulled her hand from his grasp and looked at him suspiciously. "What makes you think that you can just claim me as yours?" She couldn't for the life of her understand why she addressed that part of his statement rather than be outraged for the fact that he was materializing her as Inuyasha once had. He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her closer to him, forcing her to gaze into his sky blue orbs.

"From the very first moment I saw you, I was entranced not only by your beauty, but by your strength and determination, and your courage to stand up to jerk face. I've fallen in love with you, Kagome."

The light blush that stained her cheeks darkened at his confession and she turned away from him, not wanting to see the truth held in his eyes. "H - How is that even possible? We just met not even 5 hours ago."

"I know. I know it sounds stupid. But it's true. I can't help the way I feel, Kagome. You of all people should know that." She brought her gaze back to his, searching his eyes for any signs of deceit or dishonesty. She found none. Still refusing to believe his words, the words that her heart had ached to hear for years, she placed her mug onto the coffee table near his before turning to her son and removing the small blanket from his body. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going home."

"What? Home? But why? You're perfectly safe here with me--"

"It was a mistake to come here," she started as she lifted Shippo into her arms and stood. "I don't know you, I'm not really sure if I care to, and although I'm very grateful to you for 'saving' me from Inuyasha, it was wrong of me to come here with you." She made her way around the coffee table, picking up her purse and headed towards the door. He stood quickly and followed her.

"Wait!…" He made it to the door before her and stood next to it, bringing a strong hand to it to hold it shut as she placed her hand on the doorknob. "Kagome, would you please just listen to me?!" he pleaded. After staring at him for a few more seconds with defiance burning in her chocolate orbs, she gave him his answer.

"Goodbye, Kouga. Thank you again." She turned the knob as his hand slowly dropped from its place on the door. She opened it and exited the strange man's apartment, quickly heading towards the elevator. When she got to it, she pushed the down button and waited patiently for what seemed like forever for the elevator to reach the floor she was on.

She couldn't believe her stupidity!! She had let her emotions drive her and put herself and even worse, her child in danger! She didn't even know this guy, and she went with him to his apartment. What was worse was that she had brought helpless Shippo along with her. And that Kouga guy was nuts! Saying that he loved her when he had just met her a few hours before. And who knew if he was like… some kind of mass murderer or something. What if he had decided to rape her, or kill her and then Shippo? She kept on mentally assaulting herself, thinking how stupid she was for letting her guard down just because Inuyasha had said a few things to hurt her feelings. Had he not done that on numerous occasions before? What was so different this time? Was it because he was not only insulting her, but denying his child in the process by accusing her of cheating on him? She sighed and brought her eyes up to the lit numbers atop the elevator doors that had just started to slowly advance. '2... 3... Come on. Why'd he have to live so high up?!'

"Kagome, wait!" she heard a voice behind her. Rolling her eyes, she turned to see Kouga running down the hallway towards her. He slowed as he reached her, breathing heavily.

"What is it now?" she asked, rather coldly.

"I wanted to apologize for my audacity. I tend to be very forthright when it comes to how I feel. It's gotten me into a lot of trouble in the past, you'd think I'd have learned by now." Tilting her head a bit and standing in a stance that showed as much attitude as possible with Shippo being in her arms, she gave him a look that said 'get to the point.' Noticing it, he cleared his throat. "Right, so um… I wanted to give you my business card." He held the card out to her and she looked at it. "Please, take it." Maneuvering Shippo's weight onto her left arm, she reached out with her right and took it from him. "If you ever need anything, please just give me a call. I'll do my very best to be there as fast as possible."

Her eyes widened as she read the card in her mind:

'Kouga Aomori

President/Co-Owner of Shikon Industries

….Tel: (03)5927-4600

Fax:(03)5927-4276'

And then written across the top of the card was another number with the word "cell" in front of it. She brought her surprised gaze back up to him. "I wrote my cell phone number on there, too. Like I said, if you ever need me, just give me a call. And… If it's alright with you, I'd really like to have the pleasure of taking you out to dinner this Friday night, if you can find someone to watch Shippo, I mean."

She opened her mouth to speak but no sounds came out. 'Oh, God… Kagome how could you have managed to insult the owner of the biggest company in Japan?!…' Her lips slowly curled into a nervous smile as her mind desperately searched for the right words to say to the man who had just asked her out on a date. "Kouga, I - … I'm really sorry I said all those things…"

He shook his head. "Don't even worry about it. I've gotten much worse than that. But you can make it up to me by doing me the honor of joining me on Friday…" he pushed as the elevator dinged and the door slid open behind her. Laughing mentally at his sorry attempt to make her feel guilty, her smile grew a bit as she slowly backed into the elevator.

"I'll think about it." She pushed the lobby button as a huge smile appeared on his face.

"So does that mean I might have a chance?!" he yelled into the elevator excitedly as the door began to close.

"Maybe," was her response as the door closed. She leaned back against the elevator wall, banging her head against it lightly before sighing. "I can't believe this. What have you gotten yourself into now, Kagome?…" she asked herself quietly.

"What?!" Sango yelled. Kagome whipped her head around, giving Sango an angry glance and 'shooshing' her. Sango quickly brought her hands to her mouth as Kagome turned back to Shippo and finished tucking him in. "Are you telling me that Kouga Aomori actually stopped Inuyasha from verbally assaulting you, brought you and Shippo to his apartment, and then told you he loved you?!" she whispered with delight.

Kagome pushed her out of the room as she followed and closed the door behind her. "Yes, but please, keep your voice down. I don't want Shippo to know just ye--"

"So you are going out with him on Friday?!"

She put her hands up in front of her. "Shh!! Shh!!… I don't know yet. I haven't decided." They both slumped down onto the couch facing each other. "But doesn't it sound just a little crazy? I mean, he told me he was in love with me Sango!" Sango couldn't contain her giggle. "What?"

"I think you've been away for too long." Kagome gaped at her.

"What are you talking about?"

Sango shook her head. "You seem to forget our high school years when guys would say that to us all the time." Kagome shifted and leaned in closer to her friend.

"No, but Sango. He was dead serious. I could see it in his eyes! You know how I have that sixth sense about people when they're lying." Sango laughed again.

"Yea, yea, I know. Well, if you believe him and think he was being honest, then what's the problem?" Kagome curled into a ball and looked down.

"I don't know, it all just seems a little strange to me."

"Would it not be the same if you had gone to a club or the mall and a guy had come up to you and asked you out on a date?"

"…I guess so." She threw her arms up, a sad look on her face. "I don't know! This is all too much for me to handle!" she said, exasperated.

"Well, I think that you should go. It'll probably be good for you and maybe even take your mind off of Inuyasha for a while."

"Oh, that's right. I had completely forgotten about him just that quick. What am I gonna do? He completely denied Shippo, and right in front of his face! What am I supposed to say to him when he wakes up tomorrow?"

"Maybe Inuyasha just needs some time to think about it. I mean, you did just kind of spring this on him. He had no idea that you had had Shippo, and I'm sure he wasn't expecting to see you out there today and tell him that."

Kagome thought about it for a while and then sighed. "I guess. Maybe I just need to get some sleep…"

Sango nodded. "Sure. Sleep on it. I'm sure you'll be in a better mindset about it all tomorrow." She pulled Kagome into a sisterly embrace. "Everything will be alright. You'll see." She stood and headed towards her room. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Alright. Goodnight, Sango." She sat up for about another hour, trying to put together the pieces of the past day. First, she was forced to introduce her son to his father. That didn't go well at all. How was she ever going to prove to him that he was without a doubt Shippo's father? Or perhaps he was just in denial? She desperately hoped that that was all it was, that he was just being stubborn as usual and didn't want to accept the truth.

Then, there was Kouga. She wasn't really sure what to think about him. She hadn't really thought that he might have been someone important. But now that she thought about it, his apartment was rather fancy. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the business card that he had handed to her before she left. Thinking back, she hadn't been on a date in years, since about a year after Shippo was born. Maybe it would be good for her to accept Kouga's offer. Her mind made up, she stood and walked to her makeshift room. 'I'll call him in the morning and tell him,' was the last thing that ran through her mind before she fell asleep.

A drunk Inuyasha stormed into the house angrily. "I can't believe her! How dare she show up after 6 years and tell me something like that?!" he yelled to no one in particular as he walked through the large house. Sesshomaru always seemed to be around when he really didn't need his cynicism. Tonight would prove to be no different.

As he walked into the living room, he didn't notice Sesshomaru resting on the couch reading until he spoke. "Keep your voice down hanyou, lest you wake the entire household, including Rin. And what are you babbling on about at this time of night, Inuyasha?" he asked, bringing his book down from his eyes.

Inuyasha spun around to face his brother in an angry huff. "Kagome had the nerve to tell me that her little brat is my kid!" he spat out. Surprise flashed in Sesshomaru's eyes for but a second although Inuyasha was probably too drunk to notice.

"Really?"

"Yea! She's got some nerve showing up after all these years and throwing that in my face! How am I supposed to know if the kid is really mine or not?!"

"Inuyasha, they do have tests for this kind of thing. As barbaric as you are, I can see you dragging Kagome into court for something as meaningless as this."

"What are you getting at?!"

"Though I know it would absolutely kill you to admit it, you know that Kagome never did, and never would betray your trust. Yet you insist on arguing otherwise. You truly are a fool."

Inuyasha crossed his arms. "Huh! Whatever! What would you know about anything, Sesshomaru?! You don't even have enough sense to be able to hold on to a girl for more than a week!"

Sesshomaru smirked as he brought his eyes back to his book. "At least I have enough sense not to relinquish such information regarding my ex when my present girlfriend is standing in the same room."

Inuyasha lost all of his anger as it was replaced with a light sense of fear mixed with a small hope that Sesshomaru had only been joking. He felt his stomach drop when he turned and saw Kikyou glaring at him angrily with her arms crossed against her chest. He forced a weak smile on his face. "Kikyou! H - Hey! H - How long have you been standing there?!" he got out, his nervous voice shaky.

"I came in at the 'How am I supposed to know if the kid was really mine or not?' part," she said, not bothering to hide her discontent at his current dilemma.

"…S - So… I guess you know then?…"

"How the heck could you let this happen, Inuyasha?!" she yelled as she stormed over to him. Automatically, Inuyasha put up his defenses.

"'Let it happen?!' You make it like I planned this, like I wanted it to happen!"

"Well, didn't you?! I'm sure you'd do anything just to have an excuse to go be with that whore!"

"Don't call Kagome a whore! And if I wanted to go be with her, I wouldn't need an excuse! I'd just do it!"

"Oh, well that just gives me such warm fuzzies!…" she said sarcastically as she turned away from him.

Rolling his eyes and obviously disgusted by the meaningless argument, Sesshomaru closed his book before standing and heading towards the exit. "Would the two of you just get on with it?…" he all but sighed as he left the room, walking towards his own.

The two looked to him before looking to each other. Inuyasha growled, annoyed at the fact that his brother knew them well enough to tell that all of this arguing was just foreplay for the two of them.


End file.
